Coping
by BEN-Beyond the Elusive Nomads
Summary: Buffy meets a familiar person on the bus to LA. Post Season Two. Written for HC Bingo on LJ, hints of spuffy future.


**Title:** Coping  
**Prompt:**Post-apocalypse  
**Medium:** Fic  
**Rating**: G  
**Warnings:**  
**Summary:**Buffy meets a familiar person on the bus to LA. Post Season Two.

As the bus rolled out of Sunnydale, she just stared out the window and into the dull grey of morning. The sunrise was beautiful, as always, but it did nothing to sooth her writhing soul. She felt as if a part of her had died, and nothing she could do could fix it. It was like there was a hole in her chest and only Angel could fix it.

God, it even hurt to think his name. Angel. It was wrong – he shouldn't be there. He was a champion of the Powers – whoever the hell that was. How could a hand picked Champion go so wrong? How could he end up-?

She choked back a sob and pushed her head into her hands, her knee jumping anxiously as she tried to keep herself together. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and stared at the metal ceiling of the bus and let out a shaky breath as she attempted to quell her tears.

This hadn't been her first rodeo – she had stopped an apocalypse just last year. She had even died. Why was the aftermath of this one hitting her so much harder? She was the slayer. It was her duty, and sometimes that involved taking risks.

She had always known she would be alone in the end. But to have him ripped from her so harshly was…

A gentle looking woman got on the bus, and took a seat beside her. Buffy looked away, hoping to hide the pain that kept eating away at her insides. There was a moment of silence when the woman finally spoke.

"I know it doesn't seem like it will get better, but it will." The woman said, startling Buffy enough to make her jump. She turned to look at the slightly familiar woman, and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I'm sorry?" she asked. The woman smiled.

"You don't think this can get better." The woman said, "Its eating you up from the inside. I know what you're feeling – I've felt it before – and right now it feels like you're going to die. Like you're life is empty without them. But you're young – you've only tasted what love can be like."

Okay, Buffy was seriously starting to get wigged out. How did this woman – this stranger – know so much?

"When you get older, you start to realize that love isn't so simple." The woman continued, "You find out that you can't love someone until you become their friend. You can lust after someone, and you can give them your whole heart, but until you trust them like you do your friends, it'll never go past that flirty teen love stage. When you get older, you realize that love is messy, and it hurts, but at the end of the day you still have each other. And its real."

"Why are you telling me this?" Buffy asked brokenly, "I've gone through hell today. I can't even begin to tell you what I've been through."

"An apocalypse." The woman said bluntly, "I know. But don't ask me why. I can't tell you without being sent back."

Buffy looked at the woman with wide, terrified eyes. Her mind was making connections but she didn't want to recognize them, and she was terrified of what this woman knew.

"I don't-"

"Let me finish. Right now it hurts, and I'm not going to tell you that those months were lies. Because you both felt something for each other. But it wasn't what you need. That was idolism. You need an equal. And its going to be someone you least expect. Someone you thought was an enemy. And when the time comes, don't wait until it;s too late to tell them the truth."

The woman looked Buffy dead in the eyes, and she felt her heart stop as she saw what was reflected there. The woman noticed and smiled knowingly.

"Don't loose hope." She said, before looking at her watch and frowning, "I have to go now. The spell breaks in thirty seconds."

"Can you at least tell me his name? This mystery guy?" Buffy asked, her heart thundering in her chest. The woman looked at her with her knowing eyes, and smiled softly. Slowly, her features changed as the glamour gracing her skin fell away, revealing an older, and much happier looking Buffy.

"His name starts with a W. And he's so much more than Angel could ever give you."

And then the older Buffy faded from view. Buffy stared at the spot for a long moment before looking around the bus, thinking someone would have noticed the woman suddenly disappearing. But no one did, and Buffy was left alone in her seat.

Her heart still felt like it was ripping apart at the seams, but deep inside of her she knew that the woman was being truthful – just like she knew that she would never be with Angel the way she wanted.

And she was okay with that.


End file.
